on board water system

BradyD

Observer
My apologies if there is another thread about this but I couldn't find one. I'm working on a new OBW system for my rig. The original system I had worked fine but it was all within a self-contained "expo box" (I explain it some and have pics in my "backstory" thread) that housed my stove, aux-battery, 800w inverter, water tank and pump and some tools and gear. My plan is to take MOST of those amenities and mount them somewhere out of the way in my rig to regain cargo space lost to the box. This is where I'm at so far on the new "space saver" system. Its still not complete and I am always open to ideas and opinions. Thank you.

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BradyD

Observer
the tank is about 3.5 gallons. here are some pix of the install
hole for the filler, if you look down in there you can see the hole going through the body for the filler hose
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tank filler from an RV supply store
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filler mouted
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BradyD

Observer
the "tank" is just made out of 4" PVC pipe. im sure 6" would have fit and gave me way more volume but I had the 4" laying around. I have a few more pix ill get posted. the hose holder is just another section of 4" pvc. I plan to buy a flange for it just to kind of finish it out and make it look clean. you can see the silver screws to the left of the switch, that is the screws holding the pump in place. its an RV style 12v pump that I got off of Amazon. I think the brand name is Seaflo?
 

BradyD

Observer
the hole for the filler hose was very jagged (I don't have the proper tools for that kind of work) so I dug around in my junk pile and found a pump-up pesticide sprayer that had failed me some time ago. a quick trip to the saw and I had a perfect grommet/protective collar.
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bottom side
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tank
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rayra

Expedition Leader
have you considered using one of those collapsing plastic water bags / jugs as a tank? That corner storage area is a real odd-shaped space with a lot of volume, especially after the jack is out.
I think it would hold at least 6-7gal in that back corner. Could even rig a tap out the stern end of that body panel, by the rear hatch of the vehicle. I'd be a bit concerned about pesticides and plastic and my potable water. You can get a similar polyvinyl sink drain downtube for just a couple bucks at any hardware store. Or new PVC for a similar low price.

volume of a tube goes up pretty sharply as the dia increases, pi x r squared x length of the tube, divided by 231 cubic inches per gallon. They're a nice way to store.
You get about 2/3gal per foot of 4" pipe and about 1.5gal per foot of 6"
Saw a real nice roof rack shower supply done with 4" x 8' ABS, the guy even pressurized it with an air fitting. And the black tube gets hot in the sun just sitting out. www.roadshower.com

You made your storage box a foot deep? (roughly the height of bottom of that factory compartment) I'm curious what all you've got in there. I'm planning a two-drawer and a multi-flavor power module under a deck that's no more than 8" tall (need headroom for big dogs), had thought that was a lot of volume for regular gear storage. In fact figured I'd have one drawer mostly empty to use for range trips. Not meaning to be nosey or contradictory, just wondering what all you put in such a volume, that you ran out of room? Does it include all the camping / expeditionary gear as well as general gear and tools?
 
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BradyD

Observer
have you considered using one of those collapsing plastic water bags / jugs as a tank? That corner storage area is a real odd-shaped space with a lot of volume, especially after the jack is out.
I think it would hold at least 6-7gal in that back corner. Could even rig a tap out the stern end of that body panel, by the rear hatch of the vehicle. I'd be a bit concerned about pesticides and plastic and my potable water. You can get a similar polyvinyl sink drain downtube for just a couple bucks at any hardware store. Or new PVC for a similar low price.

volume of a tube goes up pretty sharply as the dia increases, pi x r squared x length of the tube, divided by 231 cubic inches per gallon. They're a nice way to store.
You get about 2/3gal per foot of 4" pipe and about 1.5gal per foot of 6"
Saw a real nice roof rack shower supply done with 4" x 8' ABS, the guy even pressurized it with an air fitting. And the black tube gets hot in the sun just sitting out. www.roadshower.com

You made your storage box a foot deep? (roughly the height of bottom of that factory compartment) I'm curious what all you've got in there. I'm planning a two-drawer and a multi-flavor power module under a deck that's no more than 8" tall (need headroom for big dogs), had thought that was a lot of volume for regular gear storage. In fact figured I'd have one drawer mostly empty to use for range trips. Not meaning to be nosey or contradictory, just wondering what all you put in such a volume, that you ran out of room? Does it include all the camping / expeditionary gear as well as general gear and tools?

this is really more for washing down equipment or myself. I came up with the idea after a trip to the beach (I hate sand). probably wont be doing much drinking out of it so that's not really a concern. I did think about a collapsible water container but with all the things inside that area that could potentially rip or puncture it I dismissed that idea. not that it isn't possible because it very much is but I had all the 4"pvc laying around so it was a logical solution for me. living in the south there isn't much risk of it freezing. we get maybe 5-10 days of hard freeze on average. As for the volume in my box, it was really flawed from the beginning. I framed it with 2X4s and covered it with plywood. I ran 2X4s horizontally inside the box to mount the drawer slides. so right off im loosing the volume equivalency or 4 2X4s (2 on each side) and 2 2X4s front and back. so 2X4 is actually 1.5"X3.5" or 5.25 cubic inches per inch of 2X4 or 63in3 per foot. I don't remember my exact dimensions but lets say it was 4'x3'x1'. with 2x4 top and bottom around the perimeter plus an extra 2 down each side to old the drawer slides I lost 2142 cubic inches of 20736 just to framing, over 10%. throw in my 2.5 gallon water tank, water pump, battery, 800watt inverter, and a camp stove and I just enough room for basic tools, a 20' tow strap and a shackle. I knew that would be the case with this design but I am on a budget and working with what I had and originally it was just a box with a lid, which held plenty of gear. then I joined this Expedition Portal and the ideas started coming and what was once a functional design for its purpose became a huge waste od space. with my new plan I will eventually get rid of the box but if I had to do it over again I would have used a more rigid material that didn't need framing (MDF, 1" plywood, aluminum, etc). That way you have 100% useable interior space. so once I get my water system done and my dual battery set up installed then the major components/amenities of my box will be "built in" to my suburban and free up space in the box. Hope that helps explain some of my thinking. Im on a tight budget and have limited time and tools so I understand that the things I do aren't always the most practical but its the best I can do with the time and materials I have. I appreciate the feedback!
 

pappawheely

Autonomous4X4
I didn't realize 6" tube had that kind of capacity. I know what I will be making my grey water tank out of now. Thanks!
 

BradyD

Observer
here are some quick pipe volumes

Nominal Capacity
Diameter (gallons per foot)
(inches)

4" 0.7

6" 1.5

8" 2.6

10" 4.1


I don't see anything over 10" being real practical for an off road rig but if you need any more volumes ill try to help if I can.
 

BradyD

Observer
here are some quick pipe volumes

Nominal Capacity
Diameter (gallons per foot)
(inches)

4" 0.7

6" 1.5

8" 2.6

10" 4.1


I don't see anything over 10" being real practical for an off road rig but if you need any more volumes ill try to help if I can.

wow that looked way different when I typed it supposed to be "nominal diameter (inches)" and then "capacity (gallons per foot)" kinda got mashed up. sorry
 

Ducky's Dad

Explorer
I went through this exercise during the summer and wound up building my tank out of parallel lengths of 6" Schedule 40 PVC and mounting it to the side of my roof rack. Bag awning is mounted to the driver's side and the water tank on the passenger side, so the whole rack basket is available for the usual stuff. Tank is about six feet long with the two tubes connected with 6x4x6 tees, boiler drain on the bottom with quick connect for hose coupling and a 4" threaded plug on top for easy filling from hose or bucket. Capacity is about 16 gallons. Thinking about doing another version with a single 8" pipe and fewer fittings to get me about 21 gallons. No pump or wiring to worry about because it's up high so good gravity feed, plenty for a quick shower in the desert. Thought about pressurizing but air pressure and plastic pipe are a dangerous combination. Tank is heavy, even when empty, but truck weighs about 8500# so not that big a deal.

Here is a poor pic of the current tank setup. And yes, the truck is stuck.
Yuma PW Stuck 1.jpg
 
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Google it Research

Master of Disaster
I went through this exercise during the summer and wound up building my tank out of parallel lengths of 6" Schedule 40 PVC and mounting it to the side of my roof rack. Bag awning is mounted to the driver's side and the water tank on the passenger side, so the whole rack basket is available for the usual stuff. Tank is about six feet long with the two tubes connected with 6x4x6 tees, boiler drain on the bottom with quick connect for hose coupling and a 4" threaded plug on top for easy filling from hose or bucket. Capacity is about 16 gallons. Thinking about doing another version with a single 8" pipe and fewer fittings to get me about 21 gallons. No pump or wiring to worry about because it's up high so good gravity feed, plenty for a quick shower in the desert. Thought about pressurizing but air pressure and plastic pipe are a dangerous combination. Tank is heavy, even when empty, but truck weighs about 8500# so not that big a deal.

Here is a poor pic of the current tank setup. And yes, the truck is stuck.
View attachment 265254

Awesome! Geo thermal water tank.
 

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